Cole World: Orlando Magic Select Cole Anthony at #15

[thelead]

I've watched a ton of videos last night/this morning. This dude IS NOT a PG. Which is fine because Fultz is. The question is, can he score efficiently at the 2 alongside Fultz moving forward?

The bigger question is... can he guard wings?

The answer is unfortunately no.

He'll have to guard the pg while Fultz guards the 2's Somehow Portland makes it work, we should be fine if Cole can actually score efficiently with Isaac protecting the rim.

[IllMagic04]

Im still confused on who we shoulda drafted with how the draft shook out.

Again, I think it's more so that people wanted them to be proactive and move up. Haliburton, Vassell, and Nesmith were 3 players that people were really high on and they all went within 4 picks of where we drafted.

In a draft where we had been rumored to move up for weeks and without much consensus on where guys would go, the opportunity to do so was there. Multiple teams were rumored to be shopping their picks around that range.

It's no different than previous years where they were within a pick or two of players who would have changed things for us, but decided to stand pat. Even when trades ahead of them were being facilitated.

Its a little different this year. At least it is to me. In 2018 I was 1000% sold on Trae Young. So I was willing to sell the farm to move to 4 to get him. Im not sold enough on any of those guys to warrent giving up assets to move up. It just didnt seem worth it. This wasnt the draft to trade up.

Sent from my SM-G970U using RealGM mobile app

[Bakomagic]

I've watched a ton of videos last night/this morning. This dude IS NOT a PG. Which is fine because Fultz is. The question is, can he score efficiently at the 2 alongside Fultz moving forward?

The bigger question is... can he guard wings?

The answer is unfortunately no. I can take that reality with a player that can catch + shoot at a high level, or be playmaking without the ball. Anthony does neither of those things either.

Defensively:

I feel like Fultz may be a better defender of SG’s than PG’s he’s big and often gets caught up in Picks because he is a big target and doesn’t get around them well, whereas off the ball he has shown the ability to anticipate passes and deflect them for steals, he also has the length and athleticism to consist the rim from the weak side every once and awhile.

Coach Clifford mentioned that he likes the way Cole fights defensively through screens with his toughness and quickness.

Offensively: catch and shoot

Cole Shot 41% on catch and shoot 3’s in college.

The best shooters in the league Korver, Duncan Robinson, Steph Curry shoot around 42-45% in catch and shoot situations

[Bakomagic]

BTW I’m not saying Cole should be used only as a off ball player, just that he can do that when paired with Fultz and other times he can be the lead ball handler it’ll be on coach and the players to figure out the right timing with roles and responsibilities.

And if Fultz returns to consistently hitting 3’s.......they will be a problem for the rest of the league!

[swarlesbarkley]

I've watched a ton of videos last night/this morning. This dude IS NOT a PG. Which is fine because Fultz is. The question is, can he score efficiently at the 2 alongside Fultz moving forward?

The bigger question is... can he guard wings?

The answer is unfortunately no. I can take that reality with a player that can catch + shoot at a high level, or be playmaking without the ball. Anthony does neither of those things either.

Defensively:

I feel like Fultz may be a better defender of SG’s than PG’s he’s big and often gets caught up in Picks because he is a big target and doesn’t get around them well, whereas off the ball he has shown the ability to anticipate passes and deflect them for steals, he also has the length and athleticism to consist the rim from the weak side every once and awhile.

Coach Clifford mentioned that he likes the way Cole fights defensively through screens with his toughness and quickness.

Offensively: catch and shoot

Cole Shot 41% on catch and shoot 3’s in college.

The best shooters in the league Korver, Duncan Robinson, Steph Curry shoot around 42-45% in catch and shoot situations

Thanks for that stat, was wondering when thinking about how he'll fit with Fultz. It kinda makes perfect sense - put Fultz in the playmaking role and put Cole in the no-thinking scoring role. Have Fultz guard the 2s and Cole guard the 1s. If Fultz's shot comes back and Cole develops into a solid starter then we've got a Dame/CJ "problem" and can trade one.

[PrimeThyme]

Let me show you what actually people thought about Cole Anthony before all the crap started 10 hours ago and he joined Magic

Spoiler:

Ben was only one who kind a liked him. Common sense was " if Brandon Jennigs younger brother was in draft "

Yeah, it's not really surprising considering the type of prospect he is. Extremely hyped high school player with flashy scoring ability who goes to a bad college team and is able to use that and an injury as the reason he didn't meet expectations. It makes a lot of sense for him to use both as the reason for underperforming too, it's what DSJ, Harry Giles, Andrew Wiggins (minus the injury) and many others have done before him. Sometimes, for someone like Ben Simmons, it's a legitimate excuse.

For a team that lacks guards, scoring talent, and excitement, he's the exact prospect we theoretically needed as well so I fully expect much of this fanbase to buy into the hype and talk themselves into him.

However, I'm going to have to see him produce on an NBA court. None of those things are enough for me to buy in yet as I watched a good bit of him in college and just wasn't sold on his game. Especially translating to the next level. If it does, Ill be the first one to admit I was wrong tho && will be ecstatic to do so as we desperately need a player like that on this team.

I'm just unfortunately not confident that I will be at this stage. WeHams draft pedigree outside of a few hits doesn't exactly instill much confidence.

[tiderulz]

Convington doesn't really play SF anymore for what it's worth.

He's also listed at 209 lbs where Okeke is listed at 230.

Kawhi is 225, so is Paul George. Jimmy Butler is 230, Derozan is 220, Middleton 220+, Bojan 226, TJ Warren 220, Tobias 230.

like i said, lose 5-10 lbs.

You're hung up on the weight thing and not really considering the context.

Most of the guys you listed were all thinner when they were younger. They were guys who played full time on the wing as high school and college players and progressively *gained* some weight as they aged as most people tend to do.

Okeke was a big in college. He played like a big and not a wing. It's not nearly as easy of a transition as you're making it out to be.

I'm hung up on weight? you literally just compared the weight of Covington to Okeke. And reports of Okeke's defense was able to cover SF's. we are not talking about being a giant offensive SF but 3 & D.

[basketballRob]

I just hope Okeke can be healthy all year.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[Knightro]

I'm hung up on weight? you literally just compared the weight of Covington to Okeke. And reports of Okeke's defense was able to cover SF's. we are not talking about being a giant offensive SF but 3 & D.

It's more of a style of play debate. The weight thing was just to explain that Okeke has always been more of a natural big.

Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac can defend some wings too, but neither one of them have good ball handling or good shooting and generally aren't as comfortable playing offensively or defensively in space, running off screens and fighting through off ball screens as they are playing closer to the basket.

Okeke is the same way. He's spent his entire HS and college career playing as more of a big than a wing. Just because he *can* guard some wings doesn't make mean he would be optimized as a wing.

[KillMonger]

if you feel one way or another about cole we're going to see what he's about in about a month, really glad we don't have to wait that long to see him and chuma

[p0peye]

OK, we're not bringing DJ back.

[Skin]

I've been warming up to the idea of an Anthony / Fultz backcourt with Fultz as the primary ball handler and Anthony playing off ball.

Initially, I didn't see it working as I thought both needed the ball to be effective. But the more I learned of Anthony, the more I despised his decision making. He plays with the typical NY playground mentality and he does not care about mistakes or turnovers. If Cliff can get in his head and get him to play structured basketball, then that would be more than amazing, but until then, Anthony SHOULD NOT be our primary ball handler. He can razzle dazzle his man and beat him off the dribble or create space for his own shot, but there's no mistaking that he is just too wild and careless right now. If we limit how much the ball is in his hands as a playmaker and focus his responsibility on scoring, then I think that can work.

Question is... Are we ready to try to become the Portland Blazers of the East? lol

[Def Swami]

I've been warming up to the idea of an Anthony / Fultz backcourt with Fultz as the primary ball handler and Anthony playing off ball.

Initially, I didn't see it working as I thought both needed the ball to be effective. But the more I learned of Anthony, the more I despised his decision making. He plays with the typical NY playground mentality and he does not care about mistakes or turnovers. If Cliff can get in his head and get him to play structured basketball, then that would be more than amazing, but until then, Anthony SHOULD NOT be our primary ball handler. He can razzle dazzle his man and beat him off the dribble or create space for his own shot, but there's no mistaking that he is just too wild and careless right now. If we limit how much the ball is in his hands as a playmaker and focus his responsibility on scoring, then I think that can work.

Question is... Are we ready to try to become the Portland Blazers of the East? lol

Being the Blazers is all I've ever wanted as a fan lol. The Blazers have made the playoffs 7/9 last seasons and have an average win percentage of 60% over the 9 seasons with Damian Lillard. Getting to watch Lillard and McCollum play nightly, be competitive every year, and have some conference finals appearances is 1000x better than what we've been subjected to during that timespan. The Blazers may never win a title, but they'll have an entire decade of great, entertaining, competitive basketball. Also, watch out for that team this year with healthy Nurkic and newly added Covington.

The real question is does Damian Lillard exist on this team?

[The Effect]

Who is he suppose to trust on that team to pick up the work load? The next best Offensive weapon averages 16 and the next best is a 12ppg scorer. The rest? All sub 10 ppg and non factors offensively.

You are begging him not to Chuck shots and pass around. I am saying he was told to take those shots because the quality of his team was meh and if it wasn't he would have made more plays for others.

I don't get it, really I don't. His team was a dumpster fire, he played hurt, and was focused on by defenses. His fg % ain't gonna blow me away under those conditions and I'm not blaming him for playing selfish because most people know he was asked to do that.

Once again, not the guy I wanted, but I can live with it. I'm not going to throw him under the bus before the bus has even started to roll. If we are talking about how bad he is in the middle of the season with NBA level talent around him? Then you get to complain, but if he is lighting it up, and you decide to change your tune, I'm bringing this up again.

Being solely rooted in stats is one thing, but being blind to circumstance and context is a completely other thing.

But even I can eat crow and if he sucks, then that will be my turn to fess up, but I get the feeling he is not going to suck, and a lot of people are going to look like fools for judging his one season on a team with only 2 ten point or more scorers so harshly.

Come on, Pepe! Why so negative and biased from the beginning???

At least wait to see him play a couple of games and then start bashing him.
I know everyone had some favorite players in the draft. Obviously, you had yours and Cole Anthony isn't one of them, but why being so negative without a reason???

As ARandomStranger pointed out, he had a very bad supporting cast in UNC. Even your arguments and stats you brought up regarding shots taken vs. assists made seem to confirm the exact same thing when you try to analyze them and not only see the disparity or the FG% and say in a heartbeat: "Naaah, too many shots, too bad FG%, this guy sucks."

That's not smart. I don't particularly like our FO, but say what you want about them, they have some old-school draft and evaluating approach when it comes to these young prospects and they do their homework, getting to know their mentality, their background, their BBIQ, their toughness, etc. (Yes, Bamba is not there yet.)

Hating on a talented scorer and explosive guard because he's not "your guy" without giving him a chance is just stupid and not productive. Of course, he won't be what we really look for and hope, for now. He's 20 years old. How can he be D.Lillard or Steph Curry or Jamal Murray or Baron Davis or anyone...We need to wait and see and have that conversation in 2 years, not now. Now is the time to support him.

Hell, this team and Magic's fanbase desperately need some excitement and joy, not blind hate and searching for anything negative about our players. Some fans are just too used to being down and negative about anything and everything...I guess that's what happens after our dumb rebuild and disaster Henny era.

Let me show you what actually people thought about Cole Anthony before all the crap started 10 hours ago and he joined Magic





Ben was only one who kind a liked him. Common sense was " if Brandon Jennigs younger brother was in draft "

Hmm, pretty sure ive been saying for a while that hes the player we need to target and fills the biggest need on this team(alpha scorer) and had a bunch of people agree with me.....But i guess that doesnt fit your bitch and moan narrative...so continue on

[GelbeWand09]

Im still confused on who we shoulda drafted with how the draft shook out.

Again, I think it's more so that people wanted them to be proactive and move up. Haliburton, Vassell, and Nesmith were 3 players that people were really high on and they all went within 4 picks of where we drafted.

In a draft where we had been rumored to move up for weeks and without much consensus on where guys would go, the opportunity to do so was there. Multiple teams were rumored to be shopping their picks around that range.

It's no different than previous years where they were within a pick or two of players who would have changed things for us, but decided to stand pat. Even when trades ahead of them were being facilitated.

I've wrote some days ago, that i'm pretty sure they won't trade anyone out of Vuc, AG & Evan for draft picks, young unproven players or to move up in the draft. They know it can cost them there job, because this player gonna be worse this & probably next year than the player he replaced.
If we trade Evan or AG, its gonna be for another 25+ year veteran. If we like it or not. The day they resigned Vuc, this was set in stone.
But because they overrate them as hell, even those trades probably wont happen, like the last 3 years.
I think we should all be ready for another season of the Henny gang - Isaac + 2 rookies.

[Skin]

I've been warming up to the idea of an Anthony / Fultz backcourt with Fultz as the primary ball handler and Anthony playing off ball.

Initially, I didn't see it working as I thought both needed the ball to be effective. But the more I learned of Anthony, the more I despised his decision making. He plays with the typical NY playground mentality and he does not care about mistakes or turnovers. If Cliff can get in his head and get him to play structured basketball, then that would be more than amazing, but until then, Anthony SHOULD NOT be our primary ball handler. He can razzle dazzle his man and beat him off the dribble or create space for his own shot, but there's no mistaking that he is just too wild and careless right now. If we limit how much the ball is in his hands as a playmaker and focus his responsibility on scoring, then I think that can work.

Question is... Are we ready to try to become the Portland Blazers of the East? lol

Being the Blazers is all I've ever wanted as a fan lol. The Blazers have made the playoffs 7/9 last seasons and have an average win percentage of 60% over the 9 seasons with Damian Lillard. Getting to watch Lillard and McCollum play nightly, be competitive every year, and have some conference finals appearances is 1000x better than what we've been subjected to during that timespan. The Blazers may never win a title, but they'll have an entire decade of great, entertaining, competitive basketball. Also, watch out for that team this year with healthy Nurkic and newly added Covington.

The real question is does Damian Lillard exist on this team?

Definitely don't have a Lilllard, but when healthy, we should have a way better frontcourt than they have had over the years.

[VFX]

Let’s pray Okeke can be the F Orlando needs, regardless of what we are slotting him to be.

He needs to have a BIG “rookie” season for Orlando. I’m actually more hyped now for Okeke than I could ever be for Anthony...

Orlando also needs to make a trade for AG or Fournier to get a versatile wing offensively.

[MoMM]

If Cliff can get in his head and get him to play structured basketball, then that would be more than amazing

I hope he will be able to achieve it, but it's very unlikely that his own father didn't tell him it yet and he had 10+ years to make his son understand it.

But apart from this, I support this pick and it was a good gamble, he has a lot of accolades, it's not only wingspan (which in fact he is bad).

[BlueBlazer]

One thing I like about Cole is his personality, and I know some others don’t agree. That kind of insatiability can prevail over shortcomings of talent. If PJ Tucker or Patrick Beverly weren’t dogs like they are I doubt they’d even sniff the league, and that counts for something IMO. I really hope he finds his way with us.

[Danodez82]

From the videos I’ve seen of him only 2 things stand out about him. #1 He is a very good rebounder #2 He creates contact and gets to the foul line. Besides those 2 things I’m not impressed & feel like he’s just another undersized shooting guard. He must of really impressed the FO with his workout for the Magic. I hope I’m wrong & he turns out to be an allstar because that’s what this team has lacked for long.